How to Make a Pie Crust

Pie is an iconic American dessert, and there are few kitchen projects as rewarding as baking one. The best pies start with a flaky homemade crust, which is a lot easier to make than some people fear. Just make sure your butter (or lard or shortening or some combination of fat) is very cold, and don’t overwork the dough. Here is a guide on how to make the most basic pie crust, along with three different ways to do a top crust, and a recipe for crumble topping, too. Then go off and explore our pie recipes — any filling can be paired with this crust, which is yet another reason to master it.

Before you start

Your butter must be cold; even frozen butter works as long as you cut it into cubes before freezing.

Be sure to factor in at least one hour to let your dough chill before rolling it out.

Basic Pie Dough

TimeAbout 1 hour, plus at least 1 hour chilling

Yield1 pie crust

Ingredients

1 ¼cups all-purpose flour (150 grams)

¼teaspoon fine sea salt

10tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes

2 to 4tablespoons ice water, as needed

Preparation

In a food processor, pulse together the flour and salt. Add butter and pulse until the mixture forms lima bean-size pieces. Slowly add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until the dough just comes together. It should be moist, but not wet.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk with the heel of your hand. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 12-inch circle. Transfer crust to a 9-inch pie plate. Fold over any excess dough, then crimp edges. Prick crust all over with a fork, then chill crust for 30 minutes.

Your crust is ready to blind bake if you choose to do so (see an explanation of blind baking and step-by-step photos). To blind bake, heat oven to 425 degrees. Line chilled crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes; remove foil and weights and bake until pale golden, 5 to 7 minutes more. Cool on rack until needed, then fill however you’d like. If you choose not to blind bake, then simply fill your crust when it emerges from the refrigerator and proceed.

Note

If you intend to make a pie with a top crust — whether it’s a whole top crust, a lattice or a crust made with dough cutouts — double the ingredient amounts in this recipe. Then, in step 2, divide the dough in half and shape into two disks. Roll out one disk as directed for the bottom crust, reserving the other disk in the refrigerator until it is time to roll out the top crust. (See step-by-step instructions for making different kinds of top crusts.)

Technique: Rolling out the dough

Lightly dust your counter with flour as you roll out the dough. But don’t overdo it. Too much flour all at once makes a tough crust.

Move the dough around as you roll so you don’t roll it irretrievably into the counter.

If your rolled dough doesn’t end up in a neat circle, you can trim it, and use the trimmings to patch up any rips, holes or bald spots.

Instead of rolling your dough out on a floured counter, you can roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap. No flour required.

Technique: Crimping pie dough

For the best-looking crimped crust, freeze the unbaked pie dough before filling and baking (or blind baking). The colder your dough when you get it into the oven, the better it holds its shape.

If crimping seems like too much trouble, just trim the crust flush with the edges of the pan and press the tines of a fork into the dough all the way around the pie’s edge. Make a crisscross pattern if you want to be fancy.

As you're crimping, pull the dough outward a little bit, just past the edge of the pan. It will shrink back as it bakes.

Blind Baking

Blind baking means partially baking a pie crust before you add the filling, which helps keep the crust crunchy. After the filling is added, you return the pie to the oven to finish baking. You can blind bake the dough for any pie recipe, but it’s particularly good for custard pies (like pumpkin and pecan) that are prone to sogginess. Blind baking can be done up to 24 hours before filling. Cover the crust loosely with a dish towel and store it at room temperature.

Here’s what you do:

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Line the chilled, rolled-out dough in the pan with parchment paper or foil. Fill the lined dough with pie weights, uncooked rice or beans, or clean pennies (soak them in soapy water, then rinse and spread out on a dish towel to dry). Transfer to a 425-degree oven and bake until the crust firms up, about 15 minutes. It will still be very pale at this point.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Remove the parchment or foil and weights, then return crust to the oven.

Top Crust

Custard pies don’t usually have tops, but fruit pies just about always do, and it’s something you can play around with. Start with any fruit filling you like, pile it into your pan, and then choose one of the top crusts, or the crumble, below.

To cover the top of the whole pie, you’ll need to double your pie dough if it’s not already a recipe for a double crust. Roll out the chilled dough, then lay it out over the top of the filled pie.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Crimp the edges to seal the top and bottom crusts together. Or, if you’ve blind baked the bottom crust, simply tuck in the edges of the top crust so it doesn’t hang over the side of the pan.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Slash the top of the pie with a knife to allow steam to escape. Brush top crust all over with milk, cream or an egg wash (a mix of egg and water or milk) to encourage browning. You can sprinkle it with sugar or cinnamon sugar if you like.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

To make a lattice top, you’ll need to double your pie dough if it’s not already a recipe for a double crust. Roll out the chilled dough and cut it into 1-inch thick strips.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Place half the dough strips parallel to each other across the top of the filled pie. (Reserve some of the longer strips for when you weave the lattice.) The longest strip should be in the center of the pie.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Flip up every other strip on the pie. Place another long strip perpendicular to the others across the center of the pie.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Flip those strips back down, then flip up the other strips.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Weave in a second strip of dough.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Repeat process on one side, and then the other, until you have fully covered the pie with woven strips.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Gently press lattice strip edges into the bottom crust, then crimp the edges to seal the top and bottom crusts together. Or, if you’ve blind baked the bottom crust, simply tuck in the edges of the lattice so the strips don’t hang over the side of the pan. Brush lattice all over with milk, cream or an egg wash (a mix of egg and water or milk) to encourage browning. You can sprinkle the top with sugar or cinnamon sugar if you like.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

To make a top using dough cutouts, you’ll need to double your pie dough if it’s not already a recipe for a double crust. Roll out the chilled dough and use decorative cookie cutters (circles, leaves, etc.) to cut out shapes from the dough.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

If you haven’t blind baked the crust, use a paring knife or scissors to trim any dough that is hanging over the edge of the pan. The dough should be flush with the edge of the pan.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Arrange a ring of cutouts around the outer edge of the filled pie (the cutouts should be touching the crust, coming flush to the edge).

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Continue adding cutouts to fully cover the top of the pie. You can overlap the cutouts (or not) as you see fit.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Brush cutouts all over with milk, cream or an egg wash (a mix of egg and water or milk) to encourage browning. You can sprinkle the cutouts with sugar or cinnamon sugar if you like.